I first saw our cover girl, Trankila, at Southern Comfort 2001. She was, shall we say, different. It wasn?t the day-glo blue and orange wigs she favored that made her distinct in the midst of more than 500 crossdressers and transsexuals; rather, it was the fact that although she was dressed en femme, she sported afull beard.

This community has a history of being freaked out by male crossdressers who don?t shave. One
conference, in particular, was famous for its ?no facial hair? rule. Those who didn?t shave were not only not allowed toparticipate; because they didn?t exemplify the Phyllis Schaffly ideal of womanhood favored by the conference?s organizers, they were dressed down, told they were a disgrace.

I remember April Ashley, the famous English woman of transsexual origin, saying to me: ?I just don?t understand it, darling. All those professionals are just poking their noses in your business. In my day, you just took hormones, had an operation, and that was it.? April, as anyone who knows her will tell you, has always been an individual in her own right. Because all her life she has had to be a groundbreaker, she took a lot of flack, so she had to create her strong survivor persona.

Of course, there have been many people who have adjusted their sex and gender identities with minimal professional help, and done very well in their lives. However, for most people who undergo some kind of sex and gender transition, it can at times be difficult, confusing, isolating, and overwhelming. Truth be told, even April, when she was barricaded above her restaurant in London?s Knightsbridge, hiding from the press, could probably have done with some help.

?OK, class. Take your seats. It?s time to begin. My name is Ms. Monica Helms. I?ll be your instructor for Transgender 101 this semester. Let me start off by asking all of you to put your hands down. I already know what your first question is, because it?s the same one I get every semester. No, I am NOT related to Senator Jesse Helms. However, I would like to meet him one day and tell him I?m his long-lost niece/nephew and watch him keel over. If he has a heart attack, he?d better not expect mouth-to-mouth from me.?

The name you will find on my birth certificate, driver?s license, and other official documents is Michael A. Gilbert. I?m a Full Professor in the Department of Philosophy of York University in Toronto, Canada. York is the third-largest university in Canada, and I?ve been there for a very long time. In addition to the aforementioned name, I have another, which can be found on my IFGE membership card, numerous event badges, and the articles and columns I write for the transgender community. That name is Miqqi Alicia Gilbert, and it?s been my chosen femme name for over 15 years now (before that I was known as Shelley). I?ve taken the name Miqqi Alicia because I?m a lifelong crossdresser who, unusually, is out and public about his pastime. I?m 56 years old, have been married a few times, once for 14 years and divorced, once for two and widowed, and currently for 13 and neverending.

What does it mean when an employer agrees not to discriminate against workers or customers based on ?gender identity??

Gender identity has been defined as ?a person?s various individual attributes as they are understood to be male and female.?? In a psychological sense, gender identity refers to a person?s internal, deeply felt sense of being either male or female, which may differ from the person?s anatomical sex.

The terms ?gender? and ?sex? are often used interchangeably and conflated in common usage. People are as likely to say, ?There is a man,? as they are to say, ?There is a male,? not identifying any salient differences in the terminology used.

Reality Check:

Sex is the physiological makeup of human beings, referred to as their biological or natal sex, which includes a complex relationship of genetic, hormonal, morphological, biochemical and anatomical determinates that impact the physiology of the body and the sexual differentiation of the brain.

A joint initiative of the Women/Trans Dialogue Planning Committee, the Justice Institute of BC, and Trans Alliance Society

? 2003 Trans Alliance Society

The Oscar-winning film Boys Don?t Cry told the story of Brandon Teena, a young trans man who was killed in Nebraska. After Brandon was arrested for cheque forgery, police reported to
a local newspaper that Brandon was legally and biologically female. Brandon was subsequently abducted, beaten, and raped by two acquaintances who were outraged that Brandon was trans. Despite threats by his assailants that they would kill him if he told police about the assault, Brandon did report the rape, and named the men who had assaulted him. Police scorned and mocked Brandon, and no charges were laid. Two days later, the same assailants killed Brandon and two of his housemates. Courts found the police officials partially responsible for Brandon?s death.

Transgendered people are the most stigmatized and misunderstood of the larger sexual minorities (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender). Since gender follows physical sex for most people, transgenderism and even transsexualism are almost impossible to understand by those who are not transgendered themselves. Thus, one of the primary challenges facing gender educators is to place transgendered experience into a context by which it can be readily understood. While transgendered people are most familiar with gender-variant expressions and cross-gender identities, there are many other forms of gender-variance exhibited by all kinds of people?regardless of their social or gender identities. Revealing these other forms of gender-variance will show an audience how common it really is?and thus provide the all-important context for them to understand transgendered people.